Thursday, March 3, 2011

Rarely do boxers love to fight the way former three-time world champion Ricardo Mayorga does. He fights with the reckless abandon and fearlessness of a teenager in a street brawl. Growing up on the rough streets of Managua, Nicaragua, instilled a fire in him that still burns to this day.

Born to Eddy Mayorga and his wife Miriam Del Socorro Perez March 10, 1973, the family was large with four girls and two boys. His father was a baker and his mother stayed home to raise the family. He witnessed the importance of mental and physical toughness at any early age.

"I come from a country where everything is war," Mayorga said. "Even the women are tough. In Nicaragua, women give birth wherever-in the middle of the street, in the countryside-with no medical attention. You see that and it puts a totally different perspective on things."

He attended a military school growing up in Managua. Since he was a rough kid and didn't participate in other sports, a teacher suggested that he might enjoy boxing. He followed the suggestion and found that he took to it very well.

He won the National Championship and was the Central American Golden Gloves champion as an amateur. He also had 103 amateur victories with only a few losses. He describes himself as an aggressive fighter, but that is an understatement. His favorite boxer was Sugar Ray Leonard, even though his style does not resemble the former five-time world champion.

Few aficionados of the sport of boxing thought Mayorga could continue his winning ways. It also didn't help that he chose reigning Boxing Writers Association of America 2002 Fighter of the Year Vernon "The Viper" Forrest to be his next opponent. Forrest, like Mayorga, had defied the odds to become the World Boxing Council 147-pound champion by defeating the seemingly invincible "Sugar" Shane Mosley. To prove it was not a fluke, Forrest defeated Forrest again in an immediate rematch.

"Right now they recognize Forrest as the best of the welterweights," Mayorga said at the time of their first meeting. "I will prove them wrong."

Not only did he predict he would win, he also said he would knock Forrest out inside of seven rounds-much to the amusement of many. He was so relaxed, he ate a slice of pizza when he got on the scales for the official weigh-in to taunt his opponent and prove he had no problem making weight. Mayorga repeatedly mocked Forrest: "In my country, women give birth to men. I will spank Forrest just like a man spanks a boy."